Deborah Tannen's Essay 'Sex, Lies, And Conversation'
The Importance of Body Language
Body language, communicating through gestures, is often the key to a meaningful conversation. These gestures that we apply in our conversations often help us to get our point across, or to show someone something that we just can’t describe in words. Sometimes we communicate this way without even realizing it. Many gestures we perform on a daily basis affect the outcome of a conversation such as a person becoming needlessly insulted, divorce, and how people perceive someone.
Many times body language differs in different locations because we developed the meanings of these gestures in completely different context. Due to this cultural difference many of the innocent body movements we make when communicating are misinterpreted, and in the worst case, taken as offensive. Suppose you are sitting in a restaurant and the waiter brings you a hamburger with a steaming hot fresh cup of tea. You …show more content…
Several people are unaware how important body language is in communicating, and how strong of an impact it has on the people they converse with. Studies show that the leading cause of divorce is communication problems. Deborah Tannen does a wonderful job explaining this effect in her essay “Sex, Lies, and Conversation.” She tells how body language has been a major impact in divorces because wives tend to believe their husbands are ignoring them when they do not make eye contact, or appear to not be completely focused. Tannen then goes on to explain how women often tell their spouses that they aren’t listening to them. This is a prime example of miscommunication in marriage that Tannen believes is caused by how women are unaware that men often don’t have to make eye contact to hear or remember what they are being told. Therefore, just because a man does not appear to be listening does not mean that he
Body language, communicating through gestures, is often the key to a meaningful conversation. These gestures that we apply in our conversations often help us to get our point across, or to show someone something that we just can’t describe in words. Sometimes we communicate this way without even realizing it. Many gestures we perform on a daily basis affect the outcome of a conversation such as a person becoming needlessly insulted, divorce, and how people perceive someone.
Many times body language differs in different locations because we developed the meanings of these gestures in completely different context. Due to this cultural difference many of the innocent body movements we make when communicating are misinterpreted, and in the worst case, taken as offensive. Suppose you are sitting in a restaurant and the waiter brings you a hamburger with a steaming hot fresh cup of tea. You …show more content…
Several people are unaware how important body language is in communicating, and how strong of an impact it has on the people they converse with. Studies show that the leading cause of divorce is communication problems. Deborah Tannen does a wonderful job explaining this effect in her essay “Sex, Lies, and Conversation.” She tells how body language has been a major impact in divorces because wives tend to believe their husbands are ignoring them when they do not make eye contact, or appear to not be completely focused. Tannen then goes on to explain how women often tell their spouses that they aren’t listening to them. This is a prime example of miscommunication in marriage that Tannen believes is caused by how women are unaware that men often don’t have to make eye contact to hear or remember what they are being told. Therefore, just because a man does not appear to be listening does not mean that he